lew@ihuxr.UUCP (Lew Mammel, Jr.) (11/09/84)
From Patrick Wyant's FTL article: > ... If you consider that theories in > physics can be organized in a hierarchy, from the very concrete such as > electrons to the very abstract such as unified field theories ... So it's "concrete electrons" is it? Patrick, you've seen too many little black dots with arrows through them. Now you think they're real! I've always clung to the notion that it was worth six years of graduate school to be able to think of an electron as a basis for a spinor representation of the Lorentz group, so I'm very touchy on this point. Actually, I was similarly seduced into believing that I knew what a photon was by those pictures of milk cartons coming off a conveyer belt. I wasn't disabused of the notion until I read the first chapter of Sakurai's ADVANCED QUANTUM MECHANICS, where the necessary apparatus for approaching this difficult abstraction is lucidly set forth. Only then did... Hills peep o'er hills And alps on alps soar! Lew Mammel, Jr. ihnp4!ihuxr!lew
gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn <gwyn>) (11/11/84)
> I've always clung to the notion that it was worth six years of graduate > school to be able to think of an electron as a basis for a spinor > representation of the Lorentz group, so I'm very touchy on this point. Sure am glad we finally know exactly what an electron "is".
jss@brunix.UUCP (Judith Schrier) (11/18/84)
All of which reminds me of a little anecdote from my undergrad days. Walt Disney Studios was given the job of designing a logo for the nuclear sub project. An artist phoned the UCLA physics dept to ask "please, what color is an electron?" judith brunix!jss
stew@harvard.ARPA (Stew Rubenstein) (11/20/84)
> > All of which reminds me of a little anecdote from my undergrad days. > Walt Disney Studios was given the job of designing a logo for the > nuclear sub project. An artist phoned the UCLA physics dept to ask > "please, what color is an electron?" > > judith > brunix!jss I hope they gave the correct answer. Every organic chemist knows that electrons are blue. The problem is getting them away from the atom long enough to look at them. The best way is to dissolve Lithium or Sodium metal in liquid ammonia. Result -- a solution of blue electrons. Extra credit -- use this information and a slide rule to compute the size of the solvent cage holding the electron using the old particle- in-a-three-dimensional-box equation. Surprisingly enough, it comes out about right... -- ----------------------- Stew Rubenstein UUCP: ihnp4!harvard!stew Harvard Chemistry ARPA: stew@harvard